Fines imposed on Russian TV employees who protested

NEW YORK (AP) — An employee of a Russian national television station who suspended its live news program to protest the war in Ukraine was released on Tuesday and fined $270 but can still be sentenced to prison.

Marina Ovsyannikova told reporters that she could not sleep during detention, for 14 hours

Channel 1 employee Ovsyannikova said in a news program on Monday afternoon: “Stop the war, do not believe in propaganda, here you are lying.” In English, it says “No to War” at the top of the panel, and at the bottom it says “Russian War”.

In a previously recorded video, he called on the Russians to participate in anti-war demonstrations and stated that “Russia is an aggressor country, and Vladimir Putin is fully responsible for the aggression.”

The State News Agency Tass stated that Ovsyannikova was fined for the video and was under investigation of the protest under the law prohibiting the dissemination of “deliberately false information” on the use of the Russian Armed Forces. The new law is sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.

Ovsyannikova, father of Ukrainian origin and mother of Russian origin, was detained at night.

Ovsyannikova said: “It was a very complicated day in my life, because I literally did not fall asleep for two days, and the interrogation lasted more than 14 hours, I could not contact my family and close friends, and I did not provide legal support.” I said, “I said.

The court ordered the payment of a fine of 30,000 rubles (about 270 dollars) for organizing unauthorized actions to request participation in anti-war protests.